


Like a Virgin

by firegrilled



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sexual Humor, and eventually a whole lot more, awkward first kisses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-08-20 12:25:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8248921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firegrilled/pseuds/firegrilled
Summary: When Lance starts dinner by bragging about his kissing skills, he doesn't expect Keith of all people to storm out. A little teasing never hurt anyone afterall, right?With Keith and Shiro both being inexperienced, Hunk pinning for Lance, and Pidge curious how they can bring everyone together, just how much closer will they all be before Zarkon rears his head once more? And how much closer will they be when they take on the challenge of breaking into one of Zarkon's top secret prisons?





	1. Lance:1 Keith:0

**Author's Note:**

> “neither of us have kissed anyone before and what the hell may as well just get it out of the way. except hahah ha ha h a now i can’t stop thinking of ur lips why did i think this was a good idea ha ha ahah” (sheith edition)

It started off innocently enough, really. More like thrust upon them by a certain Blue Paladin who never seemed embarrassed airing his thoughts at all points of the day. And meal time offered him a captive audience that he gladly took advantage of. 

Tonight’s topic of discussion: Lance’s excellent kissing skills.

“Like, I’ve had so much practice. And like our might leader says,” Lance bragged before putting on his most stern face. “Practice makes perfect, paladins. Quit slacking Lance and get back to work!”

Pidge covered their mouth to prevent food from flying out during their laughter fit. While not the most graceful impression of Shiro, it kept the style of the message delivery intact.

“I meant that for training, not for making out with girls. Or boys,” Shiro narrowed his eyes, scooping out some of the green goop from his plate.

Lance waved his hands defensively in the air. “I’m just saying I got skills.”

He waggled his eyebrows in the direction of a clearly disinterested Allura.

“Sure you do,” Keith rolled his eyes, continuing the dinner time tradition of irking Lance with his comments.

“You bet your brooding butt I do,” Lance shoved some goop in his mouth. he kept talking despite his mouth being full. “Unlike you, I’ve had plenty of girls swoon for me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keith glared back.

Sensing he struck an unexpected nerve, Lance swallowed as he placed the smuggest grin he could manage on his face. “It means you probably haven’t trained as much as I have with the ladies. Or boys if that’s your thing. The Garrison rumors never could be trusted.”

Rather than engage the smug blue paladin, Keith suddenly shot up from his seat and pushed his dish forward. “I’m done for tonight.”

“Where are you going?” Hunk asked, concern clearly written on his face.

“To train.”

No matter how difficult the training robot, none seemed proficient enough to challenge his unbridled rage. He barely just managed to disarm the sparring bot when it suddenly turned off. He quickly surveyed the room for the cause of this interruption. Leaning against the wall by the doorway stood the black paladin and leader of the group.

“Yes?” Keith asked, deactivating his bayard as he caught his breath.

Shiro closed the distance between them rather fast, tossing a bottle of water at the red paladin. Keith caught it and offered a grunt as a thanks. The lid of the bottle cracked open and Keith proceeded to chug as much as he could in one gulp like a fish out of water.

“What was that at dinner? I haven’t seen you that annoyed in quite a while,” Shiro spoke with curiosity more than concern in his voice.

A swift glare from Keith caught Shiro off guard. “Nothing. Lance was annoying, that’s all.”

A hearty chuckle from Shiro confirmed the leader’s disbelief. “Which part? The no practice part, or the liking boys part? Because both are okay, trust me.”

That statement both surprised and puzzled Keith. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you’re not the only boy in space who has both of those.”

Keith closed the water bottle and let confusion take hold of him. Who else could Shiro be referring too? Hunk? Come to think of it the yellow paladin seemed taken by anything that so much as offered him compassion, but that was normal when dealing with him. It was impossible to not be kind to Hunk.

His eyes narrowed their focus to a rather interesting ding on the training deck as he thought more about it. Allura and Pidge were obvious no’s, maybe Lance? That’d be hysterical but would completely defeat the entire showboating routine of the night.

“Coran?” Keith finally responded. With Coran’s flamboyant personality and overwhelming presence it wasn’t too much of a longshot.

His answer stopped Shiro dead in his tracks. The leader of the paladin’s face slowly turned red. “N-No…”

When Keith’s eyes bounced from the floor to Shiro’s eyes, a lightbulb went off in his head. The possibility never crossed Keith’s mind. “YOU?!”

“Shhh! You don’t need to announce it to the whole crew,” Shiro placed a finger in front of his lips, looking over his shoulder to check on the door. “But yes.”

“How? You’re you!” Keith remained baffled by the thought.

Shiro’s face reddened even further. He rubbed the back of his head and laughed a bit awkwardly. “Never had the time?”

While his response came across as more of an excuse than an actual answer, Keith had to shake his head to bring himself back into reality. Shiro, suave and charismatic black paladin, was an untouched perfect specimen of humanity. Unconsciously licking his lips, Keith approached his leader and hero.

“W-well like you said, it’s not like it’s something to be ashamed of,” Keith swallowed nervously as he crossed his arms. “It’s just annoying with Lance always going on and on about it. And its not like I’m going to get a chance anytime soon to shut him up about it. Hunk’s nice and all but he has other interests. Coran is, well, Coran. And Lance, yeah no.”

Feeling the beads of sweat forming on the back of his neck, and his stomach fluttering at lightspeed, Shiro took a deep breath and steeled his resolve. For a moment, he became the picture of a charismatic leader once more, but his cracked voice almost gave him away. “If this concerns you so much, then as your leader I should do my best to remedy this situation so we, I mean you feel better. If you want.”

Keith furrowed his brow as he tried to process what Shiro was suggesting. He couldn’t believe the words exiting his mouth. “Are you saying we should kiss?”

“Only if you want. T-to help you feel at ease, of course. It’s not a big deal.”

Unable to verbalize a response, Keith instead slowly nodded. Shiro seized the moment before his false bravado faded and gently grabbed Keith’s chin. he tilted the red paladin’s face upwards and placed a chaste kiss upon his trembling lips.

The fleeting moment felt like an eternity to both boys. Keith closed his eyes as he enjoyed the unexpected but tender kiss from Shiro. The black paladin lingered a few more seconds than he intended, but eventually parted the connection. Keith licked his lips once more, savoring the light aftertaste of green goop. “T-thanks. I feel at ease.”

“I’m glad one of us do… I mean you’re welcome!” Shiro’s porcelain facade shattered. “Take the night off from training. We don’t need you exhausted on your next mission because you overexerted yourself. G’night.”

Keith could only slowly nod once more as Shiro took his leave. His right index finger traced his bottom lip as he though about the event that just transpired. He knew he blatantly lied to Shiro.He definitely was not at ease anymore. And that evening proved his fears true as he found himself reflecting on Shiro’s face in the shower, thinking about his lips before bed, and reliving the short but fantastic moment in his dreams. He made a mistake thinking that’d be a casual thing.

What neither paladin knew was that Shiro hadn’t been the one to deactivate sparring robot. During the entire exchange, the green paladin observed carefully from above the training area; completely amused and proud of their handiwork. Pidge turned their thoughts on how to not only make this continue to happen, but also how to help Hunk. The green paladin watched carefully on their laptop as Rover’s feed displayed Hunk pretending to read a book as he stealthily watched Lance flirt Allura. Hunk would take some serious coaching to get him talking to Lance.


	2. Sound the Alarm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when a fire alarm in the dead of night goes off under suspicious circumstances? Hunk flees the Castle of Lions with Lance and they have a much needed heart to heart since Lance can't seem to grasp the concept that no one cares about his kissing skills. Well, almost everyone.

Ever since the dinner time incident where Keith stormed out, Lance tried to painstakingly recreate the atmosphere that lead up to that moment. Whenever the opportunity presented itself he attempted to make fun of Keith’s lack of practice. Instead of striking the nerve from before, Keith simply turned red and silent. Pidge giggled to themself since they caught Shiro also tinting pink at the accusations.

Repeating the same process over and over again proved tiring for all parties involved though. Just like mountains eroding under the piercing breeze, the team’s patience whittled away every night. Finally Lance’s latest brag had everyone groaning in the main chamber.

The collective groan stopped Lance mid sentence.

“Uh, what’s wrong?” Lance asked, oblivious as ever to those around him.

“You!” They simultaneously answered.

Lance shrunk back into the cushions, overwhelmed by the response.

“Look, we get it. You’ve kissed a lot of girls, but can we please move onto something more important? Like better teamwork for fighting Zarkon?” Shiro tried to redirect Lance’s energy.

“But- I- I was just trying…” Lance replied, hurt clearly present in his voice.

“Trying to get under my skin? It hasn’t worked tonight, or yesterday, or for the last two weeks. So grow up, damn it!” Keith huffed, springing to his feet.

While that was the angriest reaction Lance received from Keith, it was nowhere near as spectacular as the first time. Something had changed in the red paladin’s demeanor but Lance couldn’t figure out what.

“That’s not what I’m trying to do…” Lance denied, his eyes falling to the ground like a toddler caught with its hand in the cookie jar.

“The what are you trying to do? Flirt with Allura? How dense are you because its clear she isn’t interested.”

Silence hung over the room, eyes awkwardly darting from Keith to Lance and back to various interesting objects in the room. During the tense exchange, Pidge kept a studious gaze on the yellow paladin. Hunk had opened his mouth several times to say something but always refrained from joining the discussion.

“Keith, join me on the training deck. We’re going to practice your sparring technique. Your swordsmanship skill during our last battle was atrocious as Voltron, let’s go,” Shiro took charge, surprising everyone. Keith’s face fell from surprise. Keith was sloppy?

“Yes, sir,” Keith mumbled. He started dragging his feet towards the training deck, slow enough that Shiro readily caught up to him. Lance remained flabbergasted by Keith’s accusation though.

“I’m… I’m going to shower…” Lance clenched a fist as he got up to leave.

Hunk watched carefully as Lance trudged away. Unknown to him, Pidge observed Hunk just as closely. The yellow paladin eventually returned to studying whatever book he borrowed from the Castle’s library. He paid little attention to Pidge as they walked over to a rather confused Allura.

“Uh, Allura? I have a request for tonight,” Pidge inquired, with a devilish glint in their eyes.

\---

A piercing alarm jerked Hunk awake, the yellow paladin bolting upright and nearly hitting his head. Unable to understand the meaning of the alarm, he dressed as rapidly as he could before grabbing his bayard and bolting to the main deck.

The hallway glowed an ominous red from the alarms flashing. Panic setting in, Hunk sprinted to the main room where he saw a simple message on the main screen,

**Fire: Evacuate to Nearest Escape Pod**

“Why me?” Hunk complained aloud as he ran back the way he came. To his surprise he found a groggy Lance stumbling towards the main room in his usual blue bathrobe- blue lion slipper pajama combination.

“What’s happening, buddy?” Lance yawned, stretching his arms above his head.

“Fire emergency, gotta escape, let’s go!” Hunk explained too fast for Lance to grasp in his tired state. Rather than leave Lance to the flames, Hunk effortlessly hoisted Lance over his shoulder with one arm and bolted to the escape pods.

The bumpy ride sped up the waking process for Lance as he blinked the sleep away from his eyes. He sputtered, “Wait what?”

Ignoring Lance’s question, Hunk busted into the hanger and found the pods all lit up and ready to go. Without hesitation he kicked one open, threw Lance into the passenger seat, and jumped into the pilot seat. He smashed the on button and braced for impact as they were accelerated and launched out of the Castle of Lions.

Lance pressed his face against the glass, watching the Castle of Lions orbiting serenely around an earthlike planet while Hunk steered the ship towards the planet. The lack of alarms going off outside the castle came across as weird to Lance. At least there were no blaring red lights like inside the corridor Hunk found him in.

He fell back into his seat as they broke the planet’s atmosphere. Gripping the back of the pilot’s seat till his knuckles turned white, Lance prayed that Hunk’s skill from Yellow Lion translated to escape pods. Thankfully his prayers were answered.

As soon as the aircraft made a soft landing, the door flew open and Lance jumped out onto the ground. He kissed the green grass over and over as Hunk joined him outside.

“Uh, Lance? You don’t know what bacteria lives on this planet,” Hunk pointed out the obvious. Lance paused before suddenly jumping back and spitting over and over again. “At least we’re lucky this planet is habitable for humans.”

“Lucky? I was comfortably in bed no less than five minutes ago before you abducted me and flew us to some random planet!” Lance complained, grabbing Hunk by his collar.

Instead of taking the verbal punishment, Hunk merely hardened his eyes and broke Lance’s grip on his collar. “I saved you! And this is how you thank me? You’re not even dressed!”

Lance crossed his arms over his chest, sticking his nose up. “Saved me? From what? I didn’t see anything wrong with the ship when you whisked me away. And what’s wrong with how I dress?”

“N-nothing…” Hunk glanced away, an opportunity Lance used to stomp off. When Hunk looked back he saw the direction Lance took off in. “Wait, Lance, that’s-!”

“Ooooooh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!” Lance yelled as he fell through the green brush, not realizing he walked onto canopy of trees and not solid ground.

“A cliff…” Hunk slapped a hand against his forehead.

He carefully traced Lance’s steps until the edge of solid ground. Using his jet pack, Hunk floated down below the trees. A sigh of relief came when he found Lance dangling from the branches; his bathrobe caught on multiple branches and twigs. The brief worry-free moment ended when Hunk noticed the blue paladin slowly slipping out of his bathrobe. Hunk blasted himself just below Lance, in time to catch Lance as he fell to the ground once more without his bathrobe.

“G-g-good catch, Hunk,” Lance trembled in his friend’s arms.

Hunk flew back to the cliff and carried a still shaking Lance to the ship.

“We should remain here, so the others can find us once they eject. I already activated the emergency beacon,” Hunk informed Lance.

Lance merely nodded, unable to verbalize an actual response. Deciding the best course of action was to leave Lance to his thoughts, Hunk sat on the ground outside the escape pod. He fell backwards, placing both his hands behind his head for support.

Both boys lost track of the amount of time, whether seconds or ticks, before they became stir crazy. Hunk sat back up, quickly noticing Lance shivering in nothing but his blue lion slippers and underwear. Upon further inspection Hunk’s eyes bulged out a bit. “Is that lion underwear? Blue Lion underwear?”

Shooting Hunk his cockiest grin, despite shivering like a soaked kitten, Lance nodded. “Yup, made them myself.”

“How? When?” Hunk’s jaw dropped along with his shoulders.

“Trade secret, just like the slippers.” Lance wiggled his eyebrows, causing Hunk to groan as he collapsed back into the grass. “What?”

Despite the blush creeping back onto his face, Hunk finally reached his breaking point with Lance. “Do you ever take this job seriously?”

“Don’t you start with me, Hunk. I strive to be the best pilot and paladin in the universe, thank you. Just because I embrace my lion more than you all doesn’t mean I don’t take kicking Zarkon’s ass seriously,” Lance scowled, still attempting to look angry in his underwear.

“It’s not just that. All the constant fighting with Keith, trying to drop kick things with Voltron, flirting with every space chick that we met, it adds up.”

“Are you talking about all the kissing practice? Why does that piss people off? I just keep saying I got the skills to walk the walk when I talk the talk,” Lance crossed his arms over his bare chest.

Doing his best to not stare at any part of Lance except his face, Hunk shook his head. “It’s beyond annoying. Besides, we both know where you got the bulk of your practice from.”

Lance opened his mouth and promptly closed it. He watched as Hunk glowed red, unable to meet his gaze. Hunk’s eyes fell to his chest, then his underwear, and quickly to the lion slippers. A blush came to Lance’s face as realization finally dawned on him. “Are you jealous?”

“What?!” Hunk choked.

Lance’s face softened as he strolled over to his fellow paladin. “I remember who helped me master my technique.”

Hunk almost coughed up a lung when Lance fell into his lap, surprising him. The blue paladin wrapped his arm around Hunk’s neck. “Uh- Lance, what… what’re you doing?”

“Noticing,” Lance answered with a soft whisper. “I just thought the kisses meant nothing back then. Like you said, they were just for practice in the Garrison.”

“I… I just didn’t want to make things weird for us. You were my pilot and all.”

“Well, we’re both paladins now. I hope this doesn’t feel weird for you now, babe” Lance ran his other under Hunk’s chin, caressing him. Hunk’s face burned red, his nerves getting the best of him.

“I-” Hunk tried to talk, but found an index finger gingerly pressing against his lips.

“Sh. Don’t talk yourself out of this,” Lance’s voice came across smooth as silk, despite being mostly naked on an alien world.

It registered as a peck on Hunk’s lips before a tongue begged for entrance. Hunk readily gave in and deepened the kiss with Lance, bringing one hand behind the blue paladin’s head and the other wrapped around his bare chest. He pressed Lance close, exploring a mouth he’d all but forgotten the details to. While out of practice, the motion felt quite familiar to both boys.

They continued until a voice from the ship called out.

“Hello? Hello? Paladins?” Allura’s called out. “Where are you two?”

Lance rolled out of Hunk’s grasp, despite no one being able to see the two. A low grunt escaped Hunk as he jumped to his feet and bolted to the ship to reply. “Hello, Allura? We escaped the ship because we heard the fire alarm. Is everything alright there?”

“Fire alarm? What are you talking about? No alarm went off tonight? Please hurry back to the ship! You never know when Zarkon might attack,” Allura chided the boys.

Hunk and Lance traded suspicious looks as they climbed back into the ship. The aircraft left the planet in moderate silence until they broke out of the atmosphere. “Are you sure there-”

“I know what I read, Lance! We both saw the alarms going off. I wouldn’t sprint off the Castle of Lions at 3 in the morning for giggles, trust me,” Hunk defended his actions.

Staring at Hunk’s reflection on the window of the cockpit, Lance studied it for a minute. “I believe you.”

The smile from Hunk signaled to Lance that he made the right choice. And despite the mysterious circumstances of their situation, he felt content with the evening.

Back on the ship, Pidge was cackling on their bed. Pidge monitored the entire conversation not only between Allura and the escape pod, but they also managed to eavesdrop on Hunk and Lance’s adventure on the nearby planet. It wouldn’t take too much snooping from Allura to realize why Pidge requested they rest in orbit of that specific planet, but there was no way Allura would argue with the results if it got Lance to finally stop pursuing her and created better team cohesion.

The next challenge would be getting Shiro and Keith to stop awkwardly staring at each other and finally take their relationship to the next level.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pidge continues to puppet master the shit out of the team.
> 
> Thanks again for reading and all feedback is appreciated. Feel free to leave kudos, kudos or criticisms. And for those on tumblr you can find my account [here](http://firegrilled.tumblr.com/) and any likes or reblogs are also greatly appreciated!


	3. Prison Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Hunk and Lance slowly get used to each other's constant company, and Keith and Shiro stumble into something more, the entire Voltron team gets tasked with breaking into Zarkon's once renowned Twin Canyons prison in hope of finding more prisoners and potentially Pidge's family.

“Pow, pow, pow,” Lance said every time he pulled the trigger of his gun. Each was accompanied by a tremendous shaking of the earth from the canyon below.

With Lance more than amused with himself, Hunk sat next to him and watched the entertainment happening below. It started as an asinine comment the night before when both boys snuck off yet again after dinner, and Hunk seemed more than pleased with the result. “Blue really is just a giant kitten.”

Below in the canyon Blue Lion pounced around every new crater created by the blast from Lance’s rifle.

“He’s a lion, of course he is. Isn’t that right, Blue?” Lance cooed, taking another shot. “Unlike Yellow.”

“Hey! Yellow just likes to lounge,” Hunk jumped to the defense of his lion, bringing himself to his feet. “He could do it if he wanted.”

Both paladins looked down in the canyon where Yellow remained parked on his side in the sun. Hunk’s face fell into a frown before inspiration struck him. He activated his bayard and aimed it just a little bit away from Yellow. The recoil from the blast had little effect on Hunk, but Lance stumbled back a bit. A massive hole exploded by Yellow, not fazing it in the least.

“Ha, told ya,” Lance bragged as he regained his footing.

However, Blue jumped right onto the smoking hole.

Lance aimed his rifle one more time and fired upon the canyon floor. To his utter surprise, Blue didn’t move. Lance fired another shot closer to Blue, but he refused to even give the new crater a passing glance. Hunk noticed the lack of tremors and stared at the scene in front of him. A new thought crossed his mind so Hunk fired his cannon once more, clear across the canyon. Lance fell on his ass from the sudden shot. Unlike a few moments earlier, Blue leaped across the canyon floor to reach the new crater.

“I believe he likes mine better,” Hunk smirked, crushing Lance’s bravado.

“Blue, you traitor!” Lance shook his fist at his lion. The hurt lasted only a moment before Lance broke out into laughter. “He’s my lion after.”

“What does that mean?” Hunk quirked an eyebrow as he deactivated his bayard.

Rather than answer immediately, Lance hung his free hand around the yellow paladin’s neck and pulled him closer. A quick peck on the cheek had Hunk blushing red. “We both like you.”

“Lance…” Hunk said, his voice weak.

He gave a gentle smile towards his teammate. Before they could continue any further, a yelling mullet ruined the moment.

“Lance!” the red paladin shouted from a distance.

Both boy’s eyes widened, let go, and separated from each other in a matter of seconds. Hunk dropped to his butt and fell backwards into the dirt, pretending to be asleep. Lance returned to shooting his gun on the canyon floor below. Despite the new holes being made, Blue refused to budge once again.

“Blue, move your ass!” Lance ordered.

“There you are,” Keith declared, definitely looking annoyed. He arrived in time to see Lance firing another aggravated shot. “What are you doing?”

Keith walked over to the blue paladin to observe the stupidity going down below. As if on cue, Blue began jumping to the new holes being created by Lance’s rifle. A swell of relief flooded Lance’s bodywhen Blue began acting like a kitten again.

“Uh, playing with Blue. See?” Lance punctuated the sentence with another shot. Keith watched with curiosity as Blue pounced around. Beads of sweat formed on Lance’s brow as he tried to keep Keith’s attention preoccupied.

Keith’s eyes narrowed. He let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “He really is your lion.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance scowled.

“You know what it means. Now where’s Hunk? You two ran off again before Allura gave us some new info.”

“Yo,” Hunk waved as a yawn escaped him.

Keith looked over his shoulder to see the yellow paladin resting on the ground by a dead tree. “Come on, we got a new mission.”

Hunk quickly got to his feet while Lance deactivated his bayard. “Should we grab the Lions? Because Voltron.”

“Not this time. Allura is on planet. Follow me.”

Lance and Hunk shot questioning looks between each other, shrugging together at the end. They trailed after Keith.

“What’s it about?” Lance inquired.

“Dunno. We were waiting on you two. What do you guys even do? You always run off after dinner together.” Keith answered their question with another question.

“Hang out?” Lance answered.

“Like that?” Keith gestured with with thumb pointing back at the canyon.

“Sometimes that. Sometimes talking. Sometimes dessert. We got options,” Hunk offered with a much more confident demeanor. “Lance knows some killer dessert recipes with the goop. You gotta try some.”

Keith gave his best puzzled look before shaking his head. “Didn’t know Lance could cook.”

“Lots of practice back at the Garrison,” Lance smiled. His smile fell just as fast as it appeared when Keith stopped walking. “N-n-not like that! I swear I stopped talking about a while ago!”

“Just shut up,” Keith rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t mean it that. I stopped talking about practicing kissing in front of you guys already. I swear-”

“Just shut up!”

Lance became tight lipped for the remainder of the journey back. Hunk offered his sincerest glances but they could only do so much with a tense, awkward cloud hanging over the paladins.

“Does the plan make sense, Paladins?” Allura wondered. The five warriors of Voltron exchanged equally worried looks before Shiro spoke for them.

“Not really, princess,” Shiro crossed his arms. “Is that why we landed on this planet?”

“Yes! The Twin Canyons Prison Facility was a state of the art facility housing Zarkon’s greatest foes before the war. Coran recently found its location and that’s why we’re here. Any foe of Zarkon is a friend of ours and there’s a possibility of Pidge’s family being here.”

Pidge’s face fell into a frown as they stared at the ground. Shiro also mimicked their expression while tightening his arms.

“But we’re going to break into it?” Lance replied.

“Correct.”

“With two separate teams of two?”

“Correct.”

“Why not just go in full Voltron, blow down the doors, rescue the prisoners, and be the heroes?” Lance kicked down an invisible door and clasped his hands together into a gun, pretending to looking around stealthily.

“You mean besides alerting them to our presence and giving them the chance to execute the prisoners?” Keith answered.

“Because we don’t want to give them the chance to send out a distress beacon and broadcast to Zarkon where we are,” Allura spoke. Lance froze with his gun hands in the air, pondering what was said to him. Eventually he nodded and returned to standing with his arms by his side.

“Besides, being caught by Twin Canyons is perfectly normal,” Coran stated as he emerged from the Castle of Lions. He rubbed his chin as he reminisced. “Back in the day this place was sought by all sorts of races for its rich mineral deposits as well as vast quantities of gems. For some races, it was a right of passage. Avoiding Zarkon’s elite forces, finding wealth, it all provided a grand sense of adventure. Quite a worthy chapter in the story of Voltron if I do say so myself.”

“Ok but how do we guarantee we aren’t sent to the same canyon? That’s why we’re going to get ‘caught’ in pairs, right?” Lance asked.

“We’re going to make sure both parties are closer to either canyon so you get checked in separately. If it doesn’t work I’d be completely surprised,” Allura replied. “Hunk and Keith will be closer to the eastern canyon while Shiro and Lance will be by the western facility. Pidge will sneak into the main facility between the canyons to provides communication as well as sabotage and intel research. We’ll relay what information we can through Pidge.”

“Understood,” Shiro answered for everyone. “We begin the rescue mission tomorrow after breakfast. Break.”

Hunk and Lance glanced at each other before walking back in the direction they came from earlier. “Going to check on Blue and Yellow.”

The others simply gave them a questioning look as the pair strolled off. Pidge had a knowing smile as everyone else remained oblivious. Coran was the only one to speak his thoughts though. “I’m glad they love their lions so much.”

Keith grunted before spinning on the balls of his feet and heading towards the castle. He didn’t notice the leader of the paladins following after him, leaving Pidge with the two Alteans.

Shiro didn’t announce his presence until they arrived at training deck of the castle.

“Keith,” Shiro called out, causing the red paladin to spin around while clutching his bayard. “Calm down, it’s just me.”

“Shiro? What do you want?” Keith dropped his arms but refused to let go of the bayard.

“To train with you. We’re going in presumably without weapons and I’m a bit rusty on my hand to hand combat skills. You’re arguably the best hand to hand fighter here so I thought you’d practice with me?” Shiro rubbed the back of his head.

A light blush came to Keith’s face as he nodded. “S-sure.”

Tossing aside his jacket and bayard, Keith assumed a fighting stance. Shiro mimicked his pose and began to slowly circle around him. After a few moments of lurking around Keith, Shiro charged in for a punch. Keith ducked out of the way by being nimble on his feet, he danced around Shiro’s blows. He spun around another one of Shiro’s punches. using the opening to his advantage, Keith elbowed his leader in the side.

“Urgh,” Shiro grunted as he clutched his side. His arm glowed purple as it revved up and he reflexively slashed at Keith.

“Whoa!” Keith reacted as he grabbed onto the arm and tossed himself over Shiro. He turned around once again and kicked Shiro on his lower back, dropping him to the floor. “Careful with that thing.”

“Sorry, force of habit,” Shiro replied in between pants. His arm powered down as he pushed himself to his feet. “You’re a lot faster than you appear.”

“And you’re predictable,” Keith replied, missing the compliment sent his way.

“That’s not something I’m usually called,” Shiro chuckled as he resumed his fighting stance.

“You got to be lighter on your feet or your opponent can use your force against you,” Keith advised. Shiro laughed once more at the suggestion, not noticing Keith’s face reddening once again.

They continued to practice well into the night, unaware of the time flying by. Occasionally the others would walk by and observe them from above. The two may have been fighting like their lives depended on it but it came across as remarkable choreography as Keith remained defensive and Shiro continued to strike. Even as they traded offensive and defensive positions, dancing around each other.

“I think I’m done for tonight. The showers sound really good right now,” Shiro announced. Keith gave him a thumbs up as he caught his breath from the sparring match.

“That’s a really good idea,” Keith agreed as he walked by Shiro. His eyes locked with Shiro’s, sending his heart a flutter. The momentary distraction was long enough for Keith to lose track of his footing and trip on himself. “Oh shit!”

On the way down he grabbed for the nearest thing which happened to be Shiro’s neck. Shiro instantly went to grab his subordinate with both arms. “I got you.”

Both boys froze with Keith dangling from Shiro’s neck and Shiro’s arms wrapped around his chest. The normally stoic black paladin almost dropped Keith as his face lit up while the red paladin fulfilled his name by flushing at the position he was in. After his brain short circuited, Keith regained his train of thought and pulled himself to his feet, trying not to stare at Shiro’s lips as pulled himself towards them.

Shiro let go once Keith steadied himself. Keith coughed and tried to regain his composure. “Uh… thanks.”

“No problem,” Shiro muttered as Keith started to leave once again, his eyes trained on the floor. “Oh, Keith?”

The red paladin glanced over his shoulder, his eyes appearing hopeful. “Ye-yeah?”

Shiro coughed into his fist as he looked instead ta a nearby wall. “Uh, you… you fight good.”

“Thank you?” Keith’s eyes dropped back to the ground as he left the training deck.

Shiro walked over to the wall before punching it with his mechanical hand. He leaned on it as he reflected on his feelings.

Though hidden from the duo below, Pidge slammed their head into a console. “Just kiss again already!”

“Come again?” Allura’s voice asked from the console.

“Oh, hi princess,” Pidge quickly composed themself. “Just watching Keith and Shiro spar.”

“Ah, that’s fine. I wanted to thank you once again for finally getting Lance to finally stop prattling about his kissing skills. It was making me and the others uncomfortable as you know. I don’t know what you did but I wanted to commend you anyways. I suspect it had something to do with this alarm only he and Hunk seemed to have heard.”

“Something like that,” Pidge smirked.

“Well I hope tomorrow brings you good news. Good luck, paladin, I’m off to sleep. You should do the same.”

The transmission closed and Pidge’s smirk fell once again. They really hoped tomorrow would bring the opportunity to their father and brother once more. That, or a perfect opportunity to see how the boys would be in pairs again. That would at least be hilarious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the prison break begin, and the relationship hiding continue!
> 
> Thanks for reading! As always all kudos and comments are highly appreciated, and if you have a tumblr all likes and reblogs are equally appreciated! You can find my [tumblr](http://firegrilled.tumblr.com/) and feel free to send any messages or if you wanna discuss the story with me!


	4. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance shows everyone his hair tying skills and Shiro continues to be hopeless at approaching Keith.

“This is by the far the stupidest idea you’ve ever had, Lance,” Keith grumbled to the blue paladin currently tying his hair up. When he voiced his concerns to Allura about entering the Twin Canyon facility without weapons this _was not_ the solution he had in mind. At all.

“You’re the one worried about entering unarmed,” Lance replied, eternally grateful that Keith couldn’t see the wide smile on his face. “Look on the bright side, we finally found a use for your atrocious mullet.”

“Insult my hair and you won’t be playing laser fetch with Blue for a month,” Keith practically growled as Lance tugged his head backwards. “Careful! I’m attached to that.”

“Sorry, even with all my braiding skills your hair is still a challenge.”

The genuine apology caught Keith off guard, leaving him without a barbed retort. Content with the peaceful silence, Keith kept his mouth shut until Lance stopped pulling his hair every which way.

“Okay, I think I’m finished,” Lance wiped his sweaty brow. “Feel free to check the mirror but there’s no way those guards will be able to pull that bayard out.”

“Will I be able to?” Keith wondered. He pushed himself up from his bed and walked over to the full length mirror in his room. Seeing himself with his hair pulled up into a bun of sorts was already a foreign sight, but for it to be wrapping around his bayard was even weirder. The part for the blade aimed upwards with his hair tied around the handle. His bayard was as big as his head but for an alien with no knowledge of Earth fashion it probably would suffice, if they didn’t rip his hair out getting the bayard when they got caught in the next hour.

“I believe in you,” Lance waved nonchalantly as he sprung off the bed and onto his feet. He clapped a hand on Keith’s shoulder and offered a thumbs up. “It oddly suits you. Matches your jacket too.”

“Thanks?” Keith quirked an eyebrow.

Both boys exited the room and proceeded to main room to meet everyone before the mission officially began. While the journey remained silent, it was a peaceful silence with Keith pondering the dangers of the mission. Lance kept an eye on the bayard in Keith’s hair though, remarkably proud of his handiwork.

In the main room, Allura already had schematics of the facility on the screen for the paladins to review. Pidge sat next to Rover, who had a small metal platform welded to his head. Pidge’s newest modification for the upcoming mission.

Hunk sat with his food, finishing up another goopy dessert. If they were going to be undercover for a while he’d be damned if he wasn’t enjoying one last delicious meal. He barely registered the other two paladins entering the hall.

Allura and Shiro were busy discussing contingency plans and methods for communication when Shiro glanced away briefly from his chat to do a once over on the blue and red paladins, only for it to turn into a twice and then a thrice over on Keith. Both red and blue paladins didn’t notice until they heard white noise coming from Shiro’s mouth.

“Shiro, are you alright?” Allura waved her hand over his eyes to capture his attention. “What were you saying about their jammers?”

“Uh, oh yeah. A quick sweep in the stealth pod that Pidge modified showed communication jammers present. That means we’ll have radio silence until Pidge removes them. Their radar seems to be rather lackluster though,” Shiro continued as if nothing had happened. While most of the paladins missed that moment, Pidge snickered to themself. The black paladin really was as hopeless as Keith.

“We’re done. What do you guys think?” Lance gestured with both arms to Keith’s head.

The red paladin blushed at the reveal and averted his eyes to the floor as everyone shifted their attention towards him. Pidge and Hunk both nodded approvingly, while Shiro remained quiet. When Keith met his eyes, Shiro nodded. However Allura offered the most vibrant reaction.

“Wow, it looks wonderful Keith. I didn’t know you possessed such valuable skills, Lance,” Allura covered her mouth as she admired the handiwork. “You must simply show me sometime how you did this.”

“Gladly, princess. With as many sisters as I have you’re bound to pick up a trick or two. And with your flawless hair I’m sure I could so a lot more than with Keith’s mullet,” Lance crossed his arms, beaming. Keith offered a sideways glare and Lance quickly raised his arms defensively. “Not that there’s anything wrong with your hair, Keith. She just has more length to work with!”

“Whatever,” Keith rolled his eyes as he claimed his usual spot on the couch.

“Your hair is seriously soft. I don’t know what you’re doing but it’s like black silk,” Lance continued to compliment; half out of genuine admiration and half out of fear of pissing Keith off again.

“Thanks, seriously,” Keith offered a small smile before looking back towards Allura and Shiro for further direction. Lance sat nearby Hunk, closer than he should’ve but not enough to give anything away.

“Well, it’s time paladins! Remember the priority is to scout and retrieve as much information on the prison as you can! Report back with the comm’s embedded in your shirts after Pidge removes the communication blocker. I believe in you paladins!”

Finished with the pep talk, Allura turned to monitoring the various functions of the castle on her console as the paladins prepared to leave the castle for the planet. They already landed the day before but they’d need to take transportation pods to their designated capture spots.

Only Lance and Hunk remained behind Keith, Shiro, and Pidge as they made their way to the docking area. Both boys walked next to each other behind the others, Lance whistling a random tune. With Allura’s focus on the console and the others all facing ahead, Lance dared to cop a feel from his boyfriend. He grabbed one of Hunk’s ass cheeks and gave it a hearty grab. Hunk jumped in place, somehow remaining silent as Lance swiftly pulled his hand back, still whistling like nothing happened. The blue paladin’s eyes stared intently at the rafters of the castle.

Not one to let Lance have the last touch, Hunk pulled his right hand back. Lance’s eyes bulged out and he yelped as a loud slap echoed around the main chamber. Everyone turned their attention to the blue and yellow paladins as Lance quickly regained his composure, trying to pretend like he wasn’t walking with a limp. His ass was pulsing from the strong impact of Hunk’s hand.

“Is everything alright, paladins?” Allura asked the question itching at everyone’s minds.

“Yup, just fine,” Lance answered through gritted teeth, simultaneously pleased and annoyed at his boyfriend. Hunk meanwhile continued to whistle the same tune as Lance from earlier, right from where he left off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time the boys enter the prison to find all is not as it appears to be.
> 
> Thanks everyone for reading and as always all kudos comments and feedback are greatly appreciated!


	5. Only the Finest for Mother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The paladins begin their attempts to finally break into Twin Canyon. Where Hunk and Keith have a relatively successful attempt, Shiro and Lance not so much.

Staring out the window, Lance observed the planet below while Shiro piloted their transport pod to their target. The teal leaves complimented the purple soil and muted brown bark of the trees. Finding a habitable planet in space really should’ve been noteworthy but after all their adventures fighting Zarkon, the planet only elicited a yawn from the blue paladin. If anything, the ride only provided a brief respite before the mission truly began. Lance hoped that everything would be fine with Hunk and Keith.

“Are you ready for this, Lance?” Shiro asked, finally breaking the peaceful silence.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Lance smirked. He still faced outside but his tone got his confidence across.

“It’s your first undercover mission of sorts so I thought I’d ask,” Shiro spoke.

Lance waved his hand in the air, as if brushing the concern away. “We got the easy job. Pidge is the one playing spy. Worry about them.”

A cackle from the other side of the pod destroyed any concern there. Pidge regained control of their laughter a few seconds later before joining the conversation. “Please, I get the fun part. You two are gonna be actual prisoners. Are you alright doing that again, Shiro?”

Lance stared intently at Shiro’s reflection in the pods window, watching for his reaction. He didn’t miss their fearless leader’s shoulders tensing for a moment. Once they relaxed Shiro gave his reply.

“Nah, I’ll be fine. I’m not the one going in unarmed after all,” Shiro grinned.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Lance warned Shiro. His leader’s chuckling did little to prevent the impact of the pun. “You’re going in unarmed just like me. You’re not activating that thing unless you have to.”

“Are you giving me an order?”

Lance scoffed at the thought. “No. If I gotta do this defenseless than you better suffer with me.”

“That’s not how this works but alright. If we need help Pidge is just a call away,” Shiro reassured the blue paladin. As their destination approached, he began to lower the transport pod.

“Theoretically. You’ll have me once I disrupt their signal jammers. Please don’t get into trouble before then. Well, too much trouble at least. You do have Lance after all,” Pidge quipped, offering a wry smile as they looked over their shoulder at the blue paladin.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Lance shot back, mildly offended by the insinuation.

“It means you’re my responsibility,” Shiro answered, successfully landing the pod in a clearing. “Now we have about fifteen minutes until the patrol is projected to come through. Pidge, stay low when flying this thing back. Lance and I will provide a distraction so you’ll be safe.”

The doors to the pod opened and all three exited onto the purple planet. The cool air provided a refreshing relief to their claustrophobic transport vehicle.

“Don’t worry, I think I can manage to that. Cloaking and all. Have fun getting caught!” Pidge jumped back into the pod and turned on the cloak.

Lance and Shrio waited quietly as the pod lifted up and flew back in the direction they came from. It was in those few silent moments that a stray thought finally hit Lance.

“Wait, how were we supposed to get caught again?”

\---

“…And that’s how my grandfather helped fight off the great beasts that charged our dear and unarmed king, Allura’s grandfather. He took several grave wounds, including a tusk through his stomach. However, it was nothing he couldn’t sleep off in the healing bay. That was how he received one of the highest honors one could receive on Altea!” Coran rambled to his captive audience.

Hunk and Keith simultaneously groaned, unbeknownst to Coran. It wasn’t that they didn’t appreciate the company of their trainer and adviser, but they had other fears and the story did little to help calm their nerves. Keith worried about his bayard getting found out while Hunk just felt queasy from the flight and Coran’s less than stellar handling of the pod. Normally Coran could pilot without issue but his story demanded grand gestures to recount the awesome tale passed down in his family. And those gestures left the transport unsteady at the best of times and dropping out of the air the other times.

“Coran, please keep both hands on the steering,” Hunk requested as his stomach growled, still uneasy.

“No need to my boy, we’re here,” Coran announced as the pod thankfully landed.

Both boys let out silent thankful prayers as the doors opened. They jumped out onto the purple earth.

“Thank you, Coran,” Keith said as he took in his surroundings.

“No problem, but don’t forget these,” Coran reminded the boys. They looked back to see him pushing out a shovel and pick axe. “I believe you need these to ‘dig for treasure’ as Allura said. Try to find a gem or two before the Garlans find you. I hear they have some rather unique gems here due to this planet’s rather far distance from the twin suns.”

Hunk groaned as he realized they needed to make some progress for this cover to be believable. A brilliant idea struck him and he jumped back into the pod. “Hold on one second, Coran.”

Coran merely watched, tweaking one end of his mustache as Hunk retrieved his bayard. “And what do you plan to do with that?”

“Get a head start,” Hunk clarified. His cannon formed while he aimed it at some unmarked earth near a tree. The blast caught Keith off guard and dropped him onto his ass as a rather sizeable hole opened. Hunk dropped his bayard back in the transport, popping back out of the pod. “You might want to get a head start out of here because that probably wasn’t too quiet. Remember to use the cloak!”

“Of course! Good luck!” Coran waved as the doors shut. The ship faded like it was never there before, silently flying away.

Hunk grabbed the pickaxe and started towards the hole he made, not even registering that Keith remained on the ground. A throat being cleared caught Hunk’s attention though.

“Give a guy a little warning next time,” Keith glared as he pushed himself up.

“Sorry,” Hunk apologized as he rubbed the back of his head. Rather than wait on Keith though, he continued towards the hole.

Keith grabbed the shovel dropped by Coran and ran to catch up to his partner. “So what’s the plan?”

“Dunno, gonna wing it. Just follow my lead when they find us,” Hunk shrugged.

The red paladin froze in place. “That’s the plan?!”

“Better than Lance’s plan,” Hunk shrugged again.

They reached the hole, prompting Hunk to jump in. He immediately started swinging the pick axe.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Keith quirked an eyebrow before dropping down to join his partner. He started digging behind Hunk in an attempt to look productive.

“It means Lance and Shiro left their digging equipment back on the ship so I don’t know how they’re getting caught,” Hunk replied as he swung into the loose soil. Either his blast tenderized the crater or the earth really was just softer than it appeared. And he really doubted it was the former.

“Shiro is with him so I’m sure they’ll be alright,” Keith believed as he threw his first shovelful of soil over the edge of the crater.

“True, but you might want to take off your jacket. I don’t know of anyone that digs in their nice jacket,” Hunk advised, continuing digging with little effort.

Keith opened his mouth to reject the idea, but no sounds came out. That actually was a reasonable response, something he wasn’t really to use to when conversing with Lance. He stuck the shovel in the dirt and disrobed. He tossed the jacket over the edge carelessly. He quietly resumed digging the loose soil, exerting himself much more than Hunk. Eventually he began to hit tougher soil and his doubts began to resurface.

“Do you honestly think this will work? I mean this bayard looks ridiculous,” Keith commented while keeping his focus on the dirt.

“If Coran is right then this should be pretty normal. If this planet is rich in ore or minerals than we’re golden. Besides they’ve never seen humans so they might think its part of you so you’ll be fine,” Hunk smiled, the thought of a bayard being part of their anatomy amused him. A twig cracking caught his attention and his eyes shifted toward the tree line.

“But I look ridiculous. Hell, this entire scheme looks ridiculous,” Keith huffed, planting the shovel further into the dirt.

Hunk continued to swing his pickaxe, just a little more cautiously as familiar purple ears began to emerge from behind the blue brush. Hunk changed his tone and spoke a lot louder than before. “We must do this to honor our families and our ancestors. We’ll never be true men if we can’t bring something valuable back from here.”

“Did a rock his you in the head? The fuck-” Keith began to reply until an elbow hit his side. He shot a sideways glare at Hunk until he looked over the edge of the hole and saw what caught the yellow paladin’s attention. A few purple cat ears immediately sent his heart racing and he dropped his eyes back into the pit. “I mean father wants only the finest gems for mother.”

“And we’ll surely find such perfect crystals here!” Hunk agreed.

“Only the finest for mother,” Keith agreed, although his reply seemed forced and stiff.

Their act was far from perfect but for their purposes it would hopefully suffice. The Garlans attempted to sneak up on the pair, but they managed to snap many more twigs and kick a few rocks as they approached Hunk and Keith. Yet both boys remained too preoccupied with themselves to notice the guards. Thinking they managed to quietly approach the boys, the guards smiled as they stopped in front of the hole.

“Halt! Drop your weapons,” one of the guards aimed his gun at the boys.

Keith swiftly stuck the shovel in the ground and placed his hands in the air. Hunk struck the soil too and left the pickaxe imbedded in the soil, chinking something. Regardless of what he hit, Hunk also raised his hands above his head. He stared at the three Garlans in front of them.

“Ah, Garlans, oh no,” Keith groaned, earning a kick from Hunk.

“What are you two doing here?” another guard started his interrogation.

“Uh, digging for gems?” Hunk replied.

The three guards stared in between themselves, mildly confused at the response. “This far out from the mines?”

“Yes,” Keith immediately confirmed.

“Come on out of there. Don’t try anything funny,” the Garlan with the rifle stiffened his grip on the weapon.

Following the orders, both boys pulled themselves up. The other two Garlans walked over and started patting them down. After a few moments of some rather uncomfortable touching and one rather harsh grope on Hunk’s ass, the boys were pushed towards the Garlan with a rifle. “They seem unarmed sir.”

“Check the hole and that thing there,” the presumed head Garlan pointed with his rifle towards Keith’s jacket.

“Uh, that’s mine sir,” Keith fessed up as the other two Garlans began their searching.

The head Garlan nodded as the jacket was quickly deemed harmless. The Garlan in the hole removed the shovel and tossed it out. When he pulled out the pickaxe, he blinked from surprise.

“Uh, sir. You might want to see this,” the Garlan displayed the pickaxe. On the end of the pickaxe and lodged in its tip was a bright red gem, struck right through its center.

“Interesting. I guess there is some merit to digging outside the canyon. I’ll have to report this to Lord Grakus at once. Bring the tools along as well,” the head Garlan smiled. “I’m sure he’ll be interested in hearing about our first prisoners in months as well as the new treasure.”

Hunk and Keith gulped as the other two Garlans walked passed them and followed the path back into the woods. A rifle tip was jabbed into Keith’s back and forced him and Hunk to trail the other two Garlans at gun point. They could only hope that the other two were as successful in getting into the prison like they were.

\---

Shiro bit at his gag, doing his best to dislodge the stale cloth. He wanted to shout at the guards who found him and Lance yet he couldn’t. All he managed to do was glare at the five sadistic Garlans. Being hog tied and throw over a shoulder was insulting enough, but to watch as they continued to kick an already downed Lance only aggravated him further. 

The blue paladin coughed up some bile after tacking a particularly harsh kick to the gut. He wheezed as the Garlans finally backed off. Their leader, a Garlan with a faded white scar in between his eyes cracked a wicked grin.

“Let’s show Lord Grakus these foolish humans,” he smiled. “I’m sure he’ll be curious to see these lovely new pets. He’s got plans for you two.”

Shiro’s eyes widened at only one word though. How did he know they were human?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for taking the time to read and enjoy the story so far. I'm gonna try beefing up the length on some of these updates so more gets done we get to experience more with the paladins. I hope people are enjoying where the story is going and are liking the fluff!
> 
> As always, feedback is tremendously appreciated and gives me an idea of what people are thinking about the story. All comments and and kudos are appreciated. You can find me on [tumblr](http://firegrilled.tumblr.com/) if you want to leave me an ask or wanna reblog this chapter. have a great weekend!


	6. Prison Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins are brought face to face with the Warden of the prison and start to learn things are not as they appear to be. And prison life isn't going to be easy for Lance and Shiro.

Birds chirped serenely while Hunk and Keith were marched with their hands in the air towards the prison facility. Any chance of the walk being peaceful was shot to hell by the Garlans pointing their rifles and side arms at the paladins, yet both boys remained unbound and knew they could’ve escaped into the canopy if they needed to. Not that they bothered to mention that to their supposed captors.

Choosing to remain silent the entire journey back, both paladins tried to eavesdrop on the conversation between the Garlan patrolmen that found them. That also took minimal effort with how loud the guards spoke.

“Two prisoners and a gem. Can you believe it?” one of the Garlans seemed as proud as he was astonished by their luck.

“I’m sure both Lord Grakus and Lieutenant Daern will be impressed with our haul,” the second patrolmen replied. “Assuming Daern is awake.”

“Don’t speak ill of the Lieutenant. He’ll reward all of us handsomely once we give him some new fodder for the mines,” the final Garlan, the one with the rifle and some sense of authority, scolded his men.

“The mines? So you think they’ll be thrown into the eastern canyon? That sounds like a bet,” the first Garlan said. He lowered his gun and offered a hand to his counterpart.

“What? You think they’ll be used for research? Look at them!” He gestured to the two prisoners. “They’re young, fit, and one even found a gem. Prime miner material.”

Hunk and Keith exchanged confused glances, careful to not draw attention from the Garlans. Both shrugged as their captors continued to bicker.

“Yes, but don’t forget this is Lord Grakus. Final decisions rest with him and he’s…” the Garlan trailed off as he tried to find the right word.

“Quirky?” His counterpart supplied.

“Eccentric,” their boss corrected.

“Yeah, so it’s 50-50. Do you like those odds?” he kept his hand extended.

The other Garlan stopped to think about it, biting his lip as he played the odds in his head. Knowing it was nothing more than a coin toss, he shook his partner’s hand.

The remainder of the trek provided the two paladins with little more than idle chat between the Garlans like which guard was do for vacation and who left the lights on at night. While it was amusing to learn trivial facts, it did little help paint a picture of what kind of prison they were breaking into. What Coran had presented as a state of the art prison began to appear tamer.

When the jungle gave away to the two canyons the prison got its namesake from, it further discredited Coran’s tales. The purple canyons themselves lived up to the size and scale that both boys were lead to believe. Twin gigantic holes stretched as wide as the horizon on either side of the paladins. A wide path, made thin in appearance by the sheer scales of the pits around it, provided the only visible boundary between the canyons. The winding path widened further in and a sizable building sat in the center. As the group approached the building, its features slowly appeared.

The path itself was paved with misshapen brickwork, and lined with eroded statues of Garlans. If the canyon could support life perhaps weeds and moss would’ve covered the ancient architecture. The building also showed its tremendous age. What should’ve been pristine metallic walls, creaked open as they slid along a track to allow the guards to enter the facility. Rust broke off as it slowly slid open. Inside the walls of the compound stood multiple watchtowers with Garlans patrolling them. At least the ones on the right of the group were manned. The towers on the left seemed even more decrepit with rust and discolor. They were also unmanned.

“Heads up and bodies straight, prisoners. We’re taking you right to Lord Grakus, the warden of this prison. Don’t speak and maybe you’ll be released with all your limbs intact.” The head Garlan advised as he guided them further into the compound.

Both paladins might’ve taken the warning a little more to heart if this facility had the impact it had over ten thousand years earlier.

\---

“Quit squirming, maggot,” the Garlan with the scar ordered Shiro, punching him in his side.

The black paladin winced from the blow, made worse by the bumpy steps of the travel. He remained hogtied over the Garlan’s shoulder with a stale rag shoved deep into his mouth to muffle his noises. Shiro stared behind him at the other Garlans who helped capture him and Lance. The blue paladin had been motionless most of the trip.

When both were discovered earlier, the Garlans pounced on them like lions. Shiro didn’t even know they had arrived until his face was in the dirt, inhaling dust and dirt. Until he was subdued and tied, he could only hear the faint sounds of Lance yelling from the guards ambushing him. By the time Lance was determined to be subdued, he was covered in bruises and scrapes. Shiro hadn’t heard him so much as whisper since then.

Rather than endure another beating, Shiro remained as still as he could while they carried him and Lance to the facility. He could only hope Keith and Hunk were in a better situation than theirs.

“Lieutenant Thraed?”A Garlan spoke.

“Yes?” The Garlan holding Shiro replied.

“Since this is the first capture in several months, we… I mean I was wondering if there would be a celebration or reward tonight? Since we- I mean…”

“Reward? What reward could you want? There’s no greater reward than the pride of knowing your hard work produced such valuable prisoners for the Garlan Empire. Every prisoner we acquire helps power and spread the awesome might of Lord Zarkon.”

“We were hoping for a more tangible reward.” Another Garlan mumbled.

“Come again? Perhaps another patrol through the woods to find more humans would be a better reward?” Thraed mused.

“No, sir! We’re proud to serve,” the men immediately replied.

“Good, now let’s show Lord Grakus the fruits of our labor.”

A chill ran down Shiro’s spine as he tried to imagine the person who held sway over the lieutenant dragging him and Lance into custody. And his nerves only continued to fray as he heard a loud creaking when their group started down the path to what he assumed to be the prison. Since he faced backwards, he could only see the canyons as they walked the path in between them towards the Twin Canyon prison facility. The sharp metal-on-metal scraping strained his ears, making him wince again.

As they marched further in, Shiro began to notice the finer details of the facility, like the ancient rusted door, eroded stonework, and even some moss and dead plant life within the gates. It was too little to paint a picture of the facility but it set him on edge as they entered the main building. He could barely register the amount of turns the group took inside the building.

The hushed voices of other Garlans seemed to be a source of pride for the lieutenant since he seemed to straighten up and jiggled Shiro more as they passed other surprised Garlans.

“See? This is what persistence and hard work does. It rewards those who exemplify it every day, unlike Daern. We pulled in the first prisoner haul and your colleagues will be jealous of your might,” Lieutenant Thraed complimented his men, who seemed more embarrassed than proud by his words. As soon as they entered a wider room, the lieutenant announced their presence. “Lord Grakus, we have returned from patrol with fresh prisoners!”

“Really? Such splendid news. Today is turning out to be such a rewarding day,” a delighted voice answered.

Shiro felt himself being tossed to the ground like a sack of potatoes, followed by Lance a few moments later. He quickly looked around the room to find the electronics appearing to be similar to the devices in the Castle of Lions, albeit operated by Garlans. In front of him sat a much older Galan, whose purple fur appeared much lighter than that of men running around. White fur outlined parts of his eyes and down towards his nose.

“More prisoners?” Another group echoed surprise in the room.

Shiro moved his head to face the other surprised Garlans, relief swelling inside when he saw Hunk and Keith standing there, hands up. The yellow and red paladin’s faces went pale at the sight of their comrades. The look of hurt on Hunk’s face and the anger written on Keith’s gave Shiro a pretty good idea of their thoughts. He gave them a stern look, hoping to dissuade any attempt to ruin the plan.

“Th-there are other prisoners?” Thraed questioned.

“Yes. Daern’s men captured two humans who managed to find a gem out in the forest. Apparently gems exist out there so you may have to extend your mining operation outside the canyon if they keep turning up empty. What else did you and your men find? Perhaps more resources?”

“No, sir. Just the prisoners,” Thraed admitted through grit teeth.

“Oh well, perhaps you should take a lesson from your brother’s men and waited to see if your prisoners could’ve found something of use,” Lord Grakus chided.

Lieutenant Thraed clenched his fists at his sides while his men stifled their laughter through wry smiles.

“Where is Daern anyways? Was he out with his men?”

“No, Thraed. I was overseeing the lab work of the prisoners. Not all of us like to stoop to your-“, a tired voice yawned as he entered the hall. “Level of brutishness.”

Shiro and the other paladins watched as another Garlan enter the room, his armor lopsided and backwards. A large cowlick on the right side of his face also stood out.

“Lab work, right,” Thraed rolled his eyes.

“Yes, quite important work,” Daern yawned once more as he stretched. He walked down towards his men and nodded in approval at their capture. “Very good work. Tonight you all can join in me surveying the research.”

The Garlan men cheered for a quick second before regaining their composure. “Uh, thank you, sir. It’d be an honor.”

“Of course. Now, father, why have you summoned us?” Lieutenant Daern inquired.

“Ah yes, well I’ve had a change of plans. Commander Prorok will be here within the next week to observe our facility and hopefully convince Lord Zarkon to reinvest in Twin Canyon. His concern over our resources is valid so we must show Prorok not only that we can continue to produce valuable minerals, but also capable warriors and research.”

“My prisoners have made great strides in upgrading current weaponry, shall I prepare a report then?” Daern wondered.

“That would be excellent, but perhaps a demonstration would be better. Thraed, I’d like you to produce a mountain of our wealth to show this planet is far from empty. Both of you must also bring some capable warriors to demonstrate the ability of our men and the prisoners. If we can show our men are capable, as well as the prisoners, then we can also show Prorok the worth of a prisoner battalion.”

“What do you mean, father?” Thraed crossed his arms.

“We need to show Prorok the value of the prisoners as warriors. We’ll do one of those prisoner fights things that you love so much.” Lord Grakus scratched his head as he tried to recall.

“Gladitorial fights?!” Thraed instantly perked up.

“Yes, those things. Prepare some prisoners for that. The men you acquired today shall go to your respective canyons. We have little time until Prorok arrives so hurry.”

“Father, if I may interrupt?” Thraed asked.

“Proceed.”

“The prisoners I found are a cripple and a scamp barely worth any muscle. I believe they’d be better for the labs. But the prisoners Daern’s men brought in seem capable and perfect for the mines. A trade is in order I believe.”

“Really, brother? Just because my men didn’t beat their prisoners to a pulp doesn’t mean you should take mine. I’ll keep mine and even allow them to keep their belongings, including the gem. I think it could prove useful in helping us further our research,” Daern objected.

“I’ll agree with Daern on this. Keep your prisoners and prepare for Prorok. Good day,” Grakus declared before leaning back into his seat, turning around to face the monitors behind him.

Thraed let out a groan as Daern chuckled at his reaction.

“Come men, let’s prepare the prisoners. I have an announcement to make for them.” Daern motioned for his men to follow. Keith and Hunk remained in place until guns were jabbed in their backs, forcing them to move along.

Keith shot Shiro a look of concern, but Shiro merely smiled at him to ease his worry. Once the other left, the grin fell from Shiro’s face as he found himself and Lance being dragged by their collars by Thraed. “Onwards men, strip the prisoners and show them to their new home. We have some planning to do.”

Shiro gulped at the information, trembling as repressed memories slowly returned to him.

\---

“AH, COLD!” Lance sputtered as cold water shocked him awake. “Whats-“

Shiro’s metal hand quickly covered Lance’s mouth. Lance paused to take in his surroundings as memories from that morning began to refresh and his wide eyes began to calm down. More cold water aimed directly at him stung Lance.

“Clean up, maggot. Time for the mines,” a guard with a hose ordered Lance.

The blue paladin studied the tiled room he was in and soon noticed that both him and Shiro were stripped of all their belongings. Lance quickly covered himself as he looked to Shiro for guidance.

“They took everything and now they’re preparing us for the mines. Just go along with it and we’ll get our new clothes after we get out of here,” Shiro informed him. He quickly passed what resembled a bar of soap to Lance. “And don’t drop that.”

Lance nodded as he quickly scrubbed down and passed it back to Shiro. The guard sprayed more water once he deemed them ready. Both bolted out of the room and into a locker room. Laying on some cold metal benches were scraps of fabric that barely qualified as clothes or towels. Both managed to dry off as best they could and dressed themselves.

“Really? This is our uniform?” Lance commented as he faced over his shoulder. “The shirt barely reaches my belly button and the shorts don’t even reach my knees.”

Shiro seemed to have a bit more luck with his shirt covering all but a tiny part above his shorts, and the shorts at least reaching his knees. “Yeah, my last prison gave us a black jumpsuit too but the shirts were just as threadbare. Get used to it.”

Before they could continue conversing, another guard walked in with a rifle. “Out to the mines, let’s go.”

Both paladins were escorted to an elevator in complete silence. Shiro tried to find anything of use around them but only dim crystals lit the hall as the elevator seemed to continue endlessly into the ground. Once it finally reached the bottom, they were escorted by another guard for what seemed like an eternity until a giant iron door blocked their way.

“Welcome to the east canyon, scrubs. Don’t fuck up and actually find some minerals. Have fun,” the guard said with a sadistic tone, before opening the door and shoving the two paladins inside.

Shiro and Lance both fell through the doorway and down a small embankment into a pile of discarded blankets. Around them the sounds of metal striking rock echoed around a huge cavern for a few moments until they suddenly stopped. Some curious prisoners strolled over to see their new companions. The two paladins had little time to register their situation before some rather larger ape-like prisoners grabbed Lance and lifted him up.

“Mmm fresh meat. I like this one,” one smiled with a fanged grin.

“Dibs,” another one of the same species grabbed at Lance’s neck.

“Me want some,” a small and rotund prisoner declared as he hopped onto one of Lance’s dangling legs.

“Do I get a say?” Lance struggled to get out.

“Nope,” they replied in unison.

Lance gulped as more prisoners began to latch onto him trying to lay claim until a familiar metal arm began to knock the others away. Multiple hits echoed around Lance, who could barely register what was going on around him until all the hands grasping him fell away.

“ _He’s mine_.” Shiro glared at all the prisoners around them, his arm beginning to glow purple. The other prisoners looked at him and slowly backed off, still grumbling. “If anyone has a problem with that they can take it up with me.”

Lance hid himself behind Shiro quickly, still processing what just transpired. Did Shiro just claim him?

“Shiro, what just happened?” Lance whispered.

Shiro started moving towards an emptier part of the mine. Lance trailed close behind him, afraid at all the stares he and Shiro seemed to be receiving. Luckily they found some discarded tools and they began digging into the stone.

“I just stopped you from being someone’s wife. For now.”

“I… I always knew people wanted me,” Lance joked as he absorbed the information from Shiro.

“Yeah, prison isn’t safe for you. I was afraid of that but for now everyone thinks your mine so stay close to me at all times.”

Shiro struck a rock, shattering it.

“If only Hunk could see me now. He’d be jealous.” Lance smirked as his pickaxe glanced off a rock and imbedding itself in the dirt.

“And why is that?” Shiro raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, uh… to see how good I look in a crop top and shorts?” Lance chuckled nervously.

“Lance, you have a weird concept of jealousy,” Shiro shook his head, focusing on the long work ahead of them.

Lance nodded along as he avoided digging himself deeper into a hole he didn’t want to be caught in. While fraternizing with the team wasn’t exactly forbidden, it was still a conversation him and Hunk still didn’t want to have with the other paladins. And for now, he’d play the part of Shiro’s bitch if it meant not becoming one to one of the countless other prisoners currently sizing him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on updating this, but the holidays as well as relocating for work put most of my writing on hold. As usual the misadventures of the Paladins continue as they try to Oceans 11 their way through this complex. They also learn that things are not as efficient and there is a very real difference between who runs which canyon. And yes, prison bitch Lance is now a thing.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed reading the story, and I appreciate all feedback. I'm curious how people are enjyoing the fun little misadventure so please comment, kudos, reblog, or like on [tumblr](http://firegrilled.tumblr.com/). Feel free to ask any questions!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Part 2 will be up soon and more adventures will ensue since I happen to like where this story is going. Probably down the smut hole soon enough.
> 
> All kudos, comments, likes, reblogs, and criticism are appreciated!
> 
> You can find me on [tumblr](http://firegrilled.tumblr.com/) too!


End file.
